


Cooking for Dummies

by frozenorange



Series: Cooking For Dummies [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - College, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Baker Derek, College Student Stiles, Fluff, Food blogger Stiles, M/M, More Tags Will Be Added as the Story Goes On
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-25 12:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozenorange/pseuds/frozenorange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is a college student and a food blogger with an obsession for cherry pies. Derek happens to make the best cherry pie in Berkeley.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Studmuffin

**Author's Note:**

> I have this story planned from the beginning to the end, I know it’s going to take 12 chapters and I already know what’s going to happen in them but I haven’t written them yet. There are cafés or bakeries AU everywhere and I wanted to write one, too so here you go, another bakery fic.
> 
> Disclaimer: Teen Wolf and its characters belong to Jeff Davis and MTV, I'm not making profits out of writing this.  
> Unbeta'ed.

_You know when parents come up with the weirdest ideas to make their kids eat fruits or vegetables? That’s basically why this afternoon I put a banana into the cookie dough, to make my roommate eat some fruit. Okay, maybe cookies aren’t the healthiest food but what can you do, everybody likes cookies. This banana cookies taste awesome and I recommend eating them for breakfast with a warm cup of coffee._

_Banookies (makes 36ish)_

_Ingredients:_

_½ cup butter, softened_

_½ cup white sugar_

_½ cup brown sugar_

_1 egg_

_1 ½ cups all-purpose flour_

_tablespoon vanilla extract_

_½ teaspoon baking soda_

_¼ teaspoon salt_

_1 cup walnuts_

_1 cup chocolate chip (the bigger they are, the tastier your cookies will be)_

_1 ripe banana_

_Directions:_

_Cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the egg and then stir the vanilla extract. Add baking soda and salt to the batter, then gradually stir in the flour, chocolate chips and walnuts. Mash the banana until soft and creamy and add to the batter. Cook for 10 minutes in the oven at 350° until the edges turn brown._

 

Derek scoffed as he mashed the banana with a fork, “Until soft and creamy,” he repeated as he turned the fruit into a yellowish puddle. He added the mashed banana to the batter and stirred, mixing all ingredients together into a sticky dough. Derek dipped his finger in the batter and tasted it. He considered the taste for a while before concluding that it needed more flour. He stirred in an extra tablespoon of flour and then the batter was ready to be dropped onto the pan and put in the oven. 

The kitchen swinging doors opened as Derek set the timer on the oven. “I have three orders for your cherry pie for tomorrow and Mrs. Bell wants 30 of your blueberry muffins for her daughter’s birthday on Friday,” Laura said as she dumped three empty crumby trays in the sink. She spotted the banana peel on the table and asked, “Banana cream pie?” 

“Nope. Banana cookies,” Derek said, wiping his hands on his apron to get the flour off. “It’s an experiment.” 

Intrigued by the recipe Laura came closer to the table where the dirty bowl Derek had used to stir all the ingredients together was. She scooped some batter from the wooden spoon to taste it and she hummed approvingly, “Even the batter tastes delicious. Derek, you’re a genius.” 

Derek, being too proud to admit that he had actually copied the recipe from the food blog of a college student, smirked at his sister and busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen. “Those pear pies are ready, you can take them. The lemon tart needs to cool off a little more, I’ll bring it to you when it’s ready,” Derek instructed trying to distract his sister from the cookies. Laura though, wasn't so easily fooled. 

"I want a cookie when they're ready. And make sure to take some home with you, Cora will love those," she patted him on the back as she returned to the shop carrying the two pies. 

“Pear pies?” Isaac asked as she rushed to help Laura with the pies. They put the two pies on the display case next to their well known cherry pie. "New flavor today. Interesting." 

“He added banana to regular chocolate chip cookies, he’s in a creative mood today. I approve, you know, he bakes always the same pies, having something new from time to time is good for the business.” Laura told Isaac as she slipped two scones in a small paper bag and handed them to the woman standing in front of the register. “I mean, we can’t make only cherry pies forever.” 

Isaac hummed in agreement and wiped crumbs away from the counter with a rag as the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted from the kitchen. 

The timer on the oven went off while Derek was drying the last cup he had used. He put the cup back in the sink and took the cookies out of the oven. Carefully, with the help of a spatula, Derek put the cookies on a tray to let them cool off and waited before tasting one. No matter how bad he wanted to eat one, or maybe all of them, he refrained. He had hurt himself more than once with hot baked goods when he was a kid to not know to be careful around cookies that came straight out of the oven. 

He sat at the table and opened his laptop, his browser already opened on a blog that was very familiar. Of all the various food blogs Derek stumbled upon in the past years, Studmuffin’s World of Yum was the only one that caught his attention. The blog was not one of the fancy food blogs ran by bored chefs who suggest expensive and elaborated dishes that no one would make at home or one of the too many blogs written by housewives with too much free time on their hands who most of the time use silly recipes as an excuse to ramble on their life. It was the blog of a college student who cooked and baked because he liked to and wanted to share his recipes with the rest of the world. Derek knew that probably the kid was making money out of the blog, he remembered Cora explaining him something about ads and affiliates, but the blog was definitely different from the others. Easy but incredibly good recipes explained with a little bit of sarcasm and useful tips. There was a reason why the blog subtitle was ‘Cooking For Dummies’. 

The guy used the username 'Studmuffin' but Derek remembered that in one of the oldest entries one of the blogger’s friends had addressed him as Stiles. Derek wasn't sure if Stiles was his actual name or another nickname, but he didn’t really care. Stiles had opened the blog in September and after only a month there were more than thirty entries. He wrote on his blog on a daily basis, usually to share the latest recipe he had tried or sometimes recommend some places in town, like cafés, dinners and once even a fancy restaurant a girl named Lydia had dragged him to. Derek didn’t know much about Stiles only that he was a college student in Berkeley, the cafés recs gave that away, who shared an apartment with his two best friends and who had an unhealthy obsession with Star Wars. 

Derek browsed through the latest entries only to do something while the cookies cooled off. He copied  the recipe of lemon muffins on a piece of paper and jotted down some ideas for creams that could go with the muffins. He was too caught up with his reading to notice how much time had passed, it was only when Laura poked her head through the door that he raised his eyes from his laptop and realized that he had spent more than one hour reading recipes on the kid’s blog. 

“Hey Der,” Laura called from the door, “Isaac’s shift is over and I’m leaving, can you take care of the shop until I’m back?” 

Even though the question was almost rhetorical Derek nodded, he took off his apron and followed Laura back in the shop. “Thank you, big brother. I’ll be back soon,” Laura pressed a kiss to her brother’s cheek and left. 

A couple of minutes after Derek was left alone in the shop, the bell over the door dinged and a boy Derek had never seen before walked in. The guy was tall and lean, with whiskey eyes and brown hair, tiny moles dotted his face and his neck. The boy was wearing a plaid red shirt over a white tee that read “zombies want me for my brain”. 

“Good morning,” Derek greeted the boy. He was looking around with his big eyes, like an owl taking in the surroundings. “What can I get you?” Derek prompted when he realized that the boy was lost in thoughts. 

“Oh yes, sorry. Uh, mocha and a slice of cherry pie,” the brown haired kid said as he dropped his backpack on the floor and hopped on the stool in front of Derek. 

Derek slipped a slice of pie on a dish and gave it to the boy before making his coffee. If there had been Laura behind the counter instead of Derek, she would have already engaged the boy in some kind of conversation, but Derek wasn’t Laura and he didn’t talk much. 

The boy took the fork and cut the tip of the slice before scooping it up and taking the bit of food in his mouth. The moan that escaped his lips was obscene, Derek almost spilled the coffee on the floor. “Man, Scott was right. This is the best cherry pie ever,” the boy said around a mouthful of pie. 

“Thanks,” Derek replied with a small smile. "It's my mom's recipe." 

The boy blinked confused and the hand on the fork stilled, "Wait, you made it?" 

Derek frowned, tired of people who judged him because he liked cooking pies. Baking pies can be a very masculine activity with all that chopping, stirring and manhandling the dough. "Is that a problem?" 

"A problem? No, no! Absolutely not. I mean, I bake pies too. Not for a living, though. I do it for Scott. And Lydia. Yeah, mostly for Lydia." 

Derek nodded even though the boy's ramblings had confused him. Before he could say much more the boy handed him the empty plate, expectantly. 

"What?" 

"May I have another one, please?" The boy pleaded. 

Derek put another slice of pie on the boy's dish and watched as he wolfed down the baked treat. When he had finished also the second slice the boy sipped his coffee and made an almost comical disgusted face. 

"People don't come here for the coffee, do they?" 

Snorting, Derek replied, "They come here for the pies." 

"And the baker," the boy muttered as he lifted the cup to his lips. After his coffee was finished as well he stood and handed Derek ten dollars. Derek ringed his bill on the register and gave him his change. 

"Your pie is fantastic, now that I know about this place I'll come here more often," the boy said with a big smile as he shouldered his backpack. "My name is Stiles by the way," he called over his shoulder. "Have a nice day!" 

Derek's jaw dropped in shock but before he could reply Stiles was already gone. 

Derek refused to believe that the guy who had just left the shop was the mysterious blogger. He was not like Derek had imagined him to be, not that he had imagined him at all. He spent the rest of his day wondering if that guy was the blogger or not, how many people who call themselves Stiles live in Berkeley, California? Only one, Derek hoped. 

That night when he opened the blog to check for new entries, all his doubts were gone. 

_My best friend has been talking a lot about this place near the campus that makes an awesome cherry pie, Derek’s House of Pies, and since cherries are my favorite fruit ever and Scott can be pretty insistent, today I decided to try what Scott assured me was "the best cherry pie ever". I don't trust much Scott because he eats pretty much everything, I was honestly a bit wary about this cherry pie because yeah, I never trust something people label as "the best ever". Anyway, I asked Lydia if she had ever tried this notorious cherry pie and, surprise, she also calls it "the best cherry pie ever". For a moment, I thought that it was the actual name of the pie._

_At the end, I went to the House of Pies today and tried the cherry pie. When I got there the place was empty except for the guy behind the counter. He gave me a slice of the pie and well, it was a joy for the eyes with all that red goodness dripping from that perfectly baked crust. I'm pretty sure I heard choirs of angels sing when I ate it. Yup, it was that good, it really is the best cherry pie ever. I ate two slices and I wanted to take the pie home with me. Or the baker. Seriously, it's so good I'm so ashamed of my own pie that I’m deleting my recipe right away. They make different pies (I think I spotted a pear one, I’m definitely trying that next) so my new goal is to try every pie, scone and muffin they bake._

_If you’re wondering just how much good that pie is, just know that if I had to chose between orgasms and that cherry pie, I would definitely chose the pie._

If that night Derek went to bed smiling, it had nothing to do with a certain college student who wore plaid shirts and loved his cherry pie.


	2. Six Pies For Six Lunches

When Stiles had said that he would come to the bakery more often, Derek didn’t think that what Stiles meant was that he would come to the bakery every day. With the beginning of the new semester things had changed a little at the bakery. Erica had classes in the mornings so she worked in the afternoons while Isaac covered the morning shift. Laura and Derek were in the bakery all day and sometimes if she wasn’t too busy with classes or dates with Isaac, Cora would come and help them out.

Because during lunchtime the shop was pretty much empty and because she claimed she needed at least two hours away from the shop, Laura always ate lunch at home leaving Derek in charge of the bakery.

It was around twelve on a Monday when Stiles walked into the bakery. “Espresso and a slice of cherry pie,” he ordered and sat on the same stool he had used the first time he had come to the bakery.

Derek slid the cherry pie in front of Stiles and then moved to the coffee machine to prepare his coffee. When he handed Stiles his cup, the cherry pie was already gone.

“I was hungry,” Stiles explained sheepishly.

“I can tell.” 

“I really want another slice of pie but I’d like to try something else,” Stiles leaned back to look at the display case. “I’ll take a slice of pear pie.” 

Derek cut a big slice from the pie and handed it to Stiles. The boy cut off the tip and tasted it, “It’s delicious. And it tastes different from the one I make. What did you put in there?” 

“Why don’t you tell me what I put in there?” Derek challenged. “If you can guess, your lunch is on the house.” 

Stiles never backed off from a challenge, especially one involving free food. “Deal,” he held out his hand over the counter for Derek to shake. 

The boy inspected the pie as best as he could separating the pears from the crust but he found nothing. If Derek had actually put something in there, Stiles couldn’t see it. “Cinnamon?” 

Derek shook his head no. 

“Whatever it is, it makes the pear taste sweeter, but it’s not sugar.” 

“Nope,” Derek confirmed. 

“Did you use regular pears, right?” Stiles asked, eyeing Derek carefully. Maybe the man was trying to trick him. 

“Regular bartlett pears.” 

“Is the secret ingredient maple syrup?” 

“Nope.” 

“Honey?” 

“Wrong.” 

“Then maybe nutmeg?” 

“Nice try. But no.” 

Stiles frowned at Derek as he ate the last piece of his pie, thought about it for a while then shook his head. “I have absolutely no idea.” 

With a smirk Derek tapped the register, “Four dollars and fifty.” 

Stiles handed Derek a five dollar bill, pocketed his change and waited. 

“What?” Derek asked, not knowing what the boy was waiting for. 

“Aren’t you gonna tell me what you put in that awesome pie?”

“A tablespoon of cocoa powder.” 

Stiles’ jaw dropped, “Cocoa? Well that’s… that’s a great idea actually. Mind if I steal it?” 

Derek shrugged, “Lots of people add a tablespoon of cocoa when the pears are too ripe or too sweet. It’s not really a secret.” 

“Well, it was for me,” Stiles seemed to consider it for a moment then added with a smile, “You actually just gave me an awesome idea.” 

Derek knew that Stiles would write a recipe involving pears and chocolate on the blog. 

When he got back home that night he was not disappointed. Stiles had added a new recipe on the blog, pears and chocolate chips muffins, claiming that the idea had occurred him after tasting the best pear pie he had ever eaten. 

* 

Instead of the pear pie Tuesday morning Derek baked a banana cream pie. When Stiles came at twelve for lunch he was surprised to see a new kind of pie. 

“Banana cream pie?” he read out loud the sign next to the register. “I’ve never tried this pie before. 

“There’s a first time for everything,” Derek said as he pushed a plate with a slice of banana cream pie in front of Stiles. 

“What if I don’t like it?” Stiles raised an eyebrow, wary of the new pie. 

“You will.” 

Derek’s cockiness almost left Stiles speechless, “A little presumptuous, are we?” 

“Eat!” Derek insisted giving Stiles his cup of espresso. 

“Bossy,” Stiles murmured and finally tasted the pie. At first he stared at the pie as if it had personally offended him, then his eyes widened in surprise and then he frowned, taking another bite. Stiles scarfed the pie down in record time. 

“Glad to hear that you like it,” Derek teased. 

Stiles looked up from his empty plate to Derek, then his eyes darted back to his plate and finally settled on the man in front of him. “This is the best pie I’ve ever tasted.” 

“You say it every time you try a new pie,” Derek scoffed. 

“It’s the truth. I mean, this is the best pie among all pies. It’s the best pie that ever pied.” 

Derek snorted and turned away from the boy, taking the empty plate with him, “That doesn’t even make sense.” 

Stiles gestured around awkwardly with one hand, “It does in my head, okay?” 

“Is this better than the cherry pie?” Derek asked, so far no pie was better than his cherry pie. 

Stiles considered it for a moment then shook his head, “I’m not sure. You should probably give me a free slice of your delicious cherry pie so I can tell you.” 

Derek didn’t even try to argue with that. He shoved a slice of cherry pie in front of Stiles and he took a rug to clean up the coffee machine so he had something to distract himself from the inhuman noises Stiles was making. 

As Derek had suspected all along, no pie was better than his cherry pie. 

* 

Wednesday morning before leaving his apartment, Derek looked through his mother cookbook three times trying to find some fancy pie to bake. His mother’s cookbook had more than fifty different recipes of pie in it but nothing piqued Derek’s interest. He wanted to impress Stiles with something new but he couldn’t find anything. 

The inspiration hit him while he was showering, he would make Stiles a pineapple pie. He remembered Stiles posting a recipe for a pineapple cheesecake on his blog once so Derek knew for sure that Stiles would like this pie. 

It took him longer than usual to prepare it, but when the pie was finally ready it looked delicious. He cut a small slice for himself and tasted it. Like everything that Derek baked, It was delicious. Derek’s plan was to tell Stiles he had just finished baking a new pie he tried as an experiment and ask him to be his guinea pig. They would get to eat pineapple pie together, Stiles would love the pie and would be impressed with Derek’s skill, not that he wasn’t pretty impressed already. He hoped that maybe the pie would give him an opening or something to talk to, maybe the two of them could bond a little over their mutual passion. 

Derek’s perfect plan went up in smoke when Stiles walked into the bakery one hour later than usual with a redhead Derek had never seen before. “An espresso, a latte and two slices of your cherry pie,” Stiles told Derek his order as the girl sat on one of the tables. 

Stiles tapped his fingers on the counter as he waited for Derek to prepare their coffees and Derek wondered why he was so nervous. It probably had to do with the girl, so Derek tried to ignore it. When their lunch was ready Stiles took the latte and one of the two plates to the girl and then handed Derek a ten. Without a word, Derek rang up his lunch on the register and handed him his change. He watched as Stiles clumsily took his espresso and his pie to his table and sat in front of the girl. Derek pretended to be busy the whole time, rearranging pies, going in and out of the kitchen, washing cups no one had used and serving the three customers that came while Stiles and who Derek assumed was Stiles’ girlfriend were there. 

He ate the whole pineapple pie by himself that night and he stubbornly refused to check Stiles’ blog. 

* 

Thursday morning things went a lot better. Stiles arrived alone at his usual time and ordered two slices of key lime pie and an espresso. Stiles devoured his lunch but he didn’t left for a while after he finished eating. 

Stiles leaned back on the stool and rubbed his belly, “You’re spoiling me with all those different cakes.” 

Derek chuckled, “It’s my job, isn’t it?” 

“I guess so.” 

“You shouldn’t eat pies for lunch, it’s not healthy.” 

Stiles shrugged, “They’re homemade. Everything homemade is healthy.” 

Derek just stared at him, not amused. 

Stiles chuckled, “You should be happy I do. And it’s all your fault, you’re the one who keeps making all those fantastic pies. Why do you keep making awesome pies every day?” 

Somewhere deep inside his brain, Derek knew it was rhetorical, that he didn’t need to answer that and that the correct and most logical answer was that he baked pies for a living, but for an apparent lack of self preservation he blurted out, “Maybe I make them just for you.” Derek bit his lips in a last attempt to stop the words to escape from his mouth but it was too late. He had just flirted with Stiles with one of the most cheesy lines in the history of flirting and he would have to live with the consequences, wishing that Stiles wouldn’t make fun of him and tell him he’s pathetic.

Stiles didn’t laugh. if anything he looked flattered, “If it’s true, it’s actually very sweet.” 

“I just want to make sure you follow a varied diet,” Derek deadpanned. They both knew it was a lie. 

“I appreciate your effort then,” Stiles said mimicking a small curtsy. “The cherry one will always be my favorite.” 

“Did you girlfriend like it?” Derek asked trying to sound casual while he was dying to know if that girl was in fact Stiles’ girlfriend. Because clearly flirting with Stiles first and asking about his girlfriend later was the right thing to do. Way to go, Derek. 

“My who?” Stiles asked confused. “Oh Lydia? She’s not my girlfriend. She’s my best friend, we live together but no sexy times happening there. I must say, I never thought Lydia Martin of all people will become my best friend.” 

“Why not?” Derek asked confused. 

“I had a crush on her from third grade through the first year of high school. She was the most popular girl in school and I was no one, she was way out of my league, you know? Well, of course you don’t,” Stiles mumbled looking straight at Derek’s muscular arms. “One day she came to me and told me that she wanted us to become friends,” he continued. “She made it very very clear that a romantic relationship between us was not going to happen and, surprisingly enough, I was fine with it.” 

Derek felt sorry for Stiles. “I’m sorry. At least you got a friend out of it.” 

“Oh yes! She’s awesome. I have someone to spend my time with now that Scott’s busy following Allison like the lovesick puppy he is.” 

Derek chuckled even if he didn’t know Scott. From what he had heard from Stiles, though, Scott sounded a lot like Isaac who was madly in love with Cora and would do everything for her. 

“Well, Allison and Scott have been together for like four years now.” Stiles looked down at his empty coffee cup when he admitted softly, “I’m a little jealous of their relationship, you know?” 

“You’ll find someone who will love you just as much,” Derek assured him. 

Stiles looked up from his empty cup and smiled sadly, “Let’s hope you’re right.” 

Without saying another word Derek handed Stiles a slice of cherry pie. “It’s on the house,” Derek said. 

Stiles expression went back to an happy one as soon as he dug into the pie, “Out of curiosity, how many different pies can you make?” 

“My mom baked a different pie every Sunday, I think she actually made fifty-two different pies a year. It doesn’t take much though, the pastry is always the same what changes is what you put into it.” 

Stiles’ eyes widened, “Fifty-two different pies? That’s awesome! I think I tried baking only three pies in my whole life. Most of the time I make apple pie or cherry pie, they’re pretty good. Not as good as yours, of course, but you’re a pro and I’m just a college student. Sometimes I make strawberry pie because Lydia likes it but it’s always too sweet for my taste.” 

“Lemon,” Derek grunted, interrupting Stiles. 

“I’m sorry, what?” 

“If it’s too sweet add a teaspoon of lemon juice.” 

Stiles took his phone out of his pocket and held up a finger, “Wait a second, I’m writing this down for future references.” He typed the note on his phone and then put it on the counter. “Okay, sorry. What was I saying?”

“You were listing all the pies you baked in your life.” 

“Oh, right. Well that’s pretty much it. I baked a peach pie once but it was disgusting. I’m never eating peach pie ever again,” Stiles said making a disgusted face. 

“I’ll make you change your mind.” 

* 

Friday morning Stiles was disappointed to find a slice of peach pie waiting for him on the counter. 

“I’m not eating that,” he told Derek with a serious face. 

“Give it a try,” Derek pushed. 

“And why should I try it?” 

“Because you love my pies. And as you should probably know by now, that pie is different from the average peach pie.” 

Convinced by Derek’s reasons but still not too sure about the pie, Stiles scooped a bit of the filling on his fork and licked it. It was delicious but he didn’t want to give Derek the satisfaction of hearing it. 

“It’s not a peach pie,” Stiles said as he pushed the plate back to Derek. “There are walnuts in it, many walnuts, this is a peach and walnuts pie.” 

Derek seemed unimpressed, “You like it or not?” 

“Of course I do.” 

Derek smirked. 

“Don’t be so cocky, mister,” Stiles scolded around a mouthful. “This is still not a peach pie.”

The entry Derek found that night on the blog was quite interesting. 

_As you probalby remember, not long ago I baked a peach pie that was so delicious I decided to never eat peach pies again. Yesterday I confessed my failure to a friend who baked a delicious peach pie only for me._

Derek heart skipped a beat when he realized that Stiles was addressing him as a friend, but before he could let his hopes up he put that thought aside and continued reading.

_To my surprise the pie was delicious. Well, considering that all his pies are delicious I shouldn't have been surprised in the first place. Like I said, the pie was fantastic and while nothing is better than a certain cherry pie, the peach pie was almost at its level. He told me how to turn a regular peach pie into a fabulous peach pie but sorry guys that's our little secret, I can't tell you ;)_

_To make it up to you, I'll share an awesome and easy recipe for microwave suffles that will warm up your cold winter night. I know it's not winter yet, but it's better to be prepared. Winter is coming._

Derek decided that if Stiles' last sentence was a Games of Thrones reference, the guy was perfect.  _  
_

*

Saturday Stiles came into the shop around eleven. Derek was surprised to see him because usually there are no college classes on Saturdays.

“Surprised to see me here?” Stiles asked noticing the weird look Derek was giving him. 

“You don’t have classes today,” Derek stated. 

“So what? A guy can’t come all the way down here for a slice or two of,” he looked at the sign next to the register, “Sweet potatoes pie? I didn’t even know what sweet potatoes were for before today. Did you make it up or is this a thing?” 

“It is a thing,” Derek chuckled. “And it’s actually pretty good,” he cut a big slice of the pie for Stiles. 

Stiles had to agree with that, the pie was delicious. “Did you bake it for me?” 

“I didn’t even know you were coming today,” but I hoped you will, he added silently. 

Stiles snorted, “You totally baked it just for me.” 

“Then it’s a good thing you came today.” 

Stiles smiled and shook his head eating the rest of his pie. Since Stiles was in a hurry he took another slice of pie to go and one blueberry scone for Lydia. “Oh by the way,” he said as he fished his wallet from his back pocket. “I’m a little busy next week, you know, classes, work, stuff like that. I’ll probably come early in the morning for breakfast, I’m not sure, though. Can’t promise anything.” 

Derek wasn’t happy about that, both Isaac and Laura are in the bakery at the morning so he wouldn’t have as much time alone with Stiles as he had hoped. “Okay.” 

“Are you here also in the mornings?” He asked sounding hopeful. 

Well, technically Derek was always there in the mornings only that instead of serving he was in the kitchen baking pies. He could change that, though. For Stiles. “Sure. I’m always there.” 

Stiles smiled brightly, “See you next week, then.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Stiles and Derek will get to know each other a little better... I'll post chapter 3 as soon as I can get over my issues (there's a scene that just won't come out as I want it and I wrote it ten times already, grr). Oh, I was considering sharing with you all the recipes I mention in this story, if you're interested, that is. Let me know.
> 
>  **Edit:** Now with cookbook! (It's the next work in this series, check it out!)


	3. Hot Bakery Guy

Ever since he became a baker in his family business, Derek woke up at five to make pies. The bakery opened at six thirty and Derek managed to get there every morning one hour before his sister to bake pies, scones and muffins. Most of the time Derek hid in the kitchen, either baking pies or experimenting with some new recipes, and in the ten years they had been working together, Laura had never seen him serve coffee in the mornings. So she was very surprised when she found Derek behind the counter at six thirty on Monday morning, ready to serve coffee and pies.

“Are you okay?” Laura asked as she made her way behind the counter and dropped her bag in the break room.

“Why?”

“You never come out of the kitchen, Derek. Never. The few times you’re here serving customers it’s because I drag you out,” she called from behind the closed door.

“Maybe I wanted to try something new,” he replied trying to sound casual.

Laura burst out laughing, “Something new? You? No really, try something more believable this time.”

The bell above the door dinged, signaling a customer and saving Derek from his curious sister. Saved by the bell like in high school. His life was so unfair.

Even if he didn’t want to tell her why that morning he was serving instead of baking, she didn’t have to wait for long before the reason why her brother was acting weird walked into the shop wearing a plaid blue shirt over a white tee.

“Same as always?” Derek asked as Stiles sat on one of the stools.

“Yes please,” Stiles yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. “Make it strong.”

Derek slipped one slice of cherry pie in front of Stiles and then prepared his coffee. “Late night?” Derek asked conversational. Laura gaped but Derek decided to ignore her.

“Very. I have an essay due in two days and yesterday I wrote just a couple of paragraphs.”

“What are you studying?” Derek asked as he put the brewing cup of coffee in front of Stiles. The boy took the mug from his hands whispering his thanks and took a sip, not caring that it was too hot.

“English. I want to become a teacher,” he shook his head. “Dad said I could have done much more but that’s what I want to do, you know?”

If Derek heard Laura whispering “that’s so adorable,” he ignored her. “That’s admirable,” he told Stiles with the best stoic expression he could muster because yes, that was downright adorable but he was not going to say it, especially not to Stiles’ face.

Stiles was about to retort but after a quick glance at his watch he made an horrified noise that Derek assumed meant he was terribly late. “Oh my god, I’m incredibly late. Harris is going to kill me if I’m late again to his class,” he downed his coffee and finished his slice of pie in two big bites, then shoved five dollars and some coins on the counter and left the shop in a hurry.

As soon as the door closed behind him Laura turned to her brother with a knowing smirk on her lips, “Who is your friend?”

“He’s not my friend,” Derek denied as he took the dish and the cup to the kitchen so he had an excuse to escape his sister interrogation.

“Such a liar,” Laura rolled her eyes and followed him in the kitchen. “I’m asking again Derek, who is he?”

With an annoyed sigh, Derek explained, “He’s a college student who came here for lunch every day last week.” Because Laura looked like she was waiting for him to go on, he gave up his stubbornness and told her the truth. Or something close to the truth because no way he was going to admit the existence of the blog and his obsession with it, “We were always alone and he likes to talk, so we started talking. He told me he loves cooking, okay? So yes, for once one of the many students who come here every day is not as boring as others and I enjoy his company. Is that enough for you?”

Laura was ecstatic, “So you want to become his friend?”

“I didn’t say friend, I just said that I like talking to him. What, is that a crime?” He frowned annoyed.

“Oh most definitely not, little brother. Definitely not,” Laura chirped as she walked back to the front to serve the next customer of the day.

Stiles didn’t come to the bakery again that day and neither posted a new recipe on the blog, Derek knew he was too busy with his essay to update his blog but he still hoped there would be something. He had no such luck.

The next morning Stiles didn’t show up at the bakery but that night there was a new entry on his blog.

_Guess what I did today? I worked on two different essays. Really, I spent the whole day doing that, which is a pity because I didn’t get to have breakfast or lunch at my favorite place AND I had to skip work. The good news is that they're both done and I should be free from college duties from three to four weeks which means that tomorrow I can have a slice of that delicious looking apricot pie and see again that delicious piece of baker._

_I made an awesome sandwich today for lunch with slices of apples and peanut butter. You should give it a try._

*

Wednesday Stiles came to the bakery around eleven when Derek was alone in the shop.

“Are you always alone around lunchtime?” Stiles asked as he climbed on his favorite stool and waited for Derek to make his coffee.

“Yes. Laura likes to have lunch at home,” Derek said as he gave Stiles his coffee and his slice of pie.

“She’s your sister, right?”

“My older sister, yeah. I’m the middle child, Cora is younger than me,” Derek explained.

Stiles nodded, “Cora Hale. She studies History, right?”

“How do you know that?” Derek asked curious. Berkeley was a big campus with thousands of students, it was a surprise that Stiles knew his sister.

Stiles cut a piece of his pie with his fork, “She’s dating one of my friends.”

Derek did a double take, “You’re a friend of Isaac’s?”

“Yep,” Stiles shrugged. “He’s more like a friend of my best friend, but you could say we’re pretty close. We all went to high school together, you know, me, Scott, Lydia, Isaac and Erica. They both work here, right?”

Derek was too shocked by the implication of what Stiles had said to answer, “You were in high school with all of them?”

Stiles looked at him as if he was crazy, “Yes. Am I missing something here?”

“You’re from Beacon Hills,” Derek stated.

“Well yeah, born and raised there. Why are you asking?” Stiles had no idea why Derek seemed so surprised yet excited.

“I was born in Beacon Hills. We moved here after my parents, well,” Derek trailed off.

“Are you kidding me? You’re from Beacon Hills? Dude, that’s awesome! How come I never met you or Cora back home?” Stiles flailed his arms around and Derek was worried he might fall off the stool.

“We’ve been here for almost ten years now.”

“When was the last time you went back home?”

Derek winced a little, Berkeley was a nice town but it had never felt quite right being there. Stiles was right, Beacon Hills was his home, with his old house and the preserve where he and his sister had played when they were kids. “I haven’t been there in more than ten years,” Derek confessed.

Stiles expression became sad, “Why?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t have a reason to go back. Only my uncle Peter lives there but he’s the one who comes visiting us.”

“I see. Well, you’ve missed quite a lot then. Like the lacrosse team winning the championship for five years in a row,” Stiles said wiggling his eyebrows.

“When I was in high school basketball was more popular than lacrosse. We were pretty good, we won every year,” Derek said.

“Basketball? We didn’t have a decent basketball team in years. How old are you?” Stiles laughed, taking another sip of his coffee.

Derek snorted but didn’t answer. Too old for you, his brain supplied. Derek ignored it.

Stiles tilted his head, “You where the captain, right?”

“How do you know?” Derek asked curious. The kid seemed perceptive, Derek liked that.

Stiles shrugged, “My best friend was captain of the Lacrosse team for three years. I know a captain when I see one.”

“You played?”

Stiles looked down and pushed the last bit of pie around on the dish with his fork, “Not much, I was more a bench warmer. I wasn’t much on the field but one time I totally saved the day, I scored four times and we won.”

Derek smiled at the enthusiasm this kid was showing. Stiles was always so happy and always smiling, quite the opposite of Derek. Derek wanted to ask him more about Beacon Hills but Stiles finished his pie and jumped off the stool.

“As much as I would like to continue this conversation, I have to go pick up Scott at work,” he sounded mournful, like he didn’t want to go.

“We can always talk more the next time,” Derek suggested as he rang up Stiles’ bill.

Stiles took out his wallet and handed Derek a ten. “Definitely. But next time I want to try the apricot pie.”

“I know,” Derek mumbled as he gave Stiles his change.

Stiles looked at him quizzically then took the money shaking his head, “See you tomorrow, then. Have a nice day!”

*

The next day Stiles came to the bakery around seven. Both Laura and Isaac were there and the shop was too busy for Stiles to make conversation with Derek so he patiently waited in line. “Just a slice of apricot pie to go, please,” he said when it was his turn to order.

Derek put a big slice of apricot pie in a paper bag and handed it to Stiles. He slipped a small scrap of paper on the counter along with the money but he was gone before Derek had a chance to read. The shop was too filled with people for Derek to do anything but make coffees and serve pies, so he didn’t have time to read what Stiles had written on that piece of paper, he put it into the back pocket of his jeans and forgot about it.

He remembered about the piece of paper only later that night, when he was closing the bakery. He fished it out of his pocket, unfolded it and read. There was a phone number scribbled on it with only two words, “Call me”.

Derek did.

The phone rang just once before Stiles picked up, “Hello?”

“Hi, you said to call you and I did,” Derek cursed himself for fumbling over his words like an eager teenager.

“Oh, hi!” Stiles sounded cheerful and a bit tired, "Well, we didn’t have time to talk today and tomorrow and Saturday I work in the mornings so I don’t think I’ll have much time for your pie.”

Derek frowned at his phone, was this what Stiles wanted tell him? That they won’t be seeing each other for a while? Well, it’s not like Derek was expecting a date or a confession of Stiles’ undying love for him but you can never know. “It’s okay,” Derek said simply because he had no clue what he was supposed to say.

There was a beat of silence before Stiles spoke again. “This is so weird, I’m sorry. I mean, it’s  not like all your customers call you to tell that they won’t come to the bakery for a few days,” he rambled. Derek stopped him.

“It’s fine,” he repeated. Stiles wasn’t completely wrong, most of the time regular customers told Laura that they wouldn’t come to the shop for some days, they just never gave Laura their number. Or write on their blog how handsome Derek is.

“We never finished that conversation about Beacon Hills,” Stiles said weighing his words carefully. “I would like to and we could maybe, you know, grab a coffee or something. Not now, I mean, maybe during next week, when you feel like it. If you want, that’s it.”

Derek smiled at Stiles’ awkward ramble, “I would love to.”

He could almost hear Stiles blinking, “Really?”

“Yes, but-” Derek didn’t get to finish his sentence because Stiles interrupted him.

“There’s always a ‘but’, isn’t it?” he sighed. “Look, if you don’t want to go just say it. You don’t have to make up an excuse.”

“Stiles, I was gonna say that I work a lot during the week and that maybe we could have lunch together this Sunday.”

“Oh,” Stiles sounded surprised. “Sounds good. Very good. I know a place we could go. Send me a text with your address and I’ll come pick you up at nine.”

“I will. See you on Sunday then?”

“Sure. Bye,” Stiles said happily and hung up.

Derek stared at his phone for a while after the line went dead. He shook his head at himself and climbed into his car, ready to go back home. When he returned home he headed straight for the bathroom to take a shower. After the shower he texted Stiles his address and waited for a reply. He got it five minutes later.

_From Stiles [11:24 pm]: the diner i want 2 go is 5 mins away from your apt. awesome. see u there?_

Derek typed out the reply as quickly as he could, he didn’t want Stiles to fall asleep before he could tell him where he wanted to go.

_To Stiles [11:26 pm]: What’s this diner’s name?_

The reply came almost immediately.

_From Stiles [11:27 pm]: srry totally forgot. the place is susie’s burgers one block away from your place._

Derek had no idea where the diner was but he remember Stiles writing about that place one or two times on his blog. He would look up the address on the internet tomorrow.

_To Stiles [11:31 pm]: Ok. See you there on Sunday at eleven. Goodnight._

Stiles’ reply came completely unexpected ten minutes later.

_From Stiles [11:41 pm]: nite :)_

If he dreamed about Stiles that night it was no one’s business.

*

Sunday morning Derek woke up at seven. He showered, thought about shaving, wore a pair of jeans, thought about not shaving, took off his jeans and wore a black shirt, took off the shirt and thought again about shaving, replaced the shirt with a grey henley, wore a pair of black jeans and decided to not shave.

Despite his indecision Derek managed to get ready in time and walked out from his apartment thirty minutes earlier, just in case. It took less than five minutes for him to get to Susie’s Burgers so he sat on a table and waited, sipping coffee that was barely tolerable.

Stiles arrived five minutes after eleven in a rush. “I’m so sorry, I had to take Scott to his girlfriend’s and it took him forever to get ready.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Derek smiled reassuringly, trying not to blush at the memory of just how much time he wasted getting ready that morning.

As soon as Stiles settled down in their booth a waitress came to take their orders. Stiles ordered a coke, an hamburger and two dishes of curly fries for both of them.

“They make the best curly fries here. Well, best curly fries in Berkeley, there’s this place in Beacon Hills that’s basically better than heaven. We should go there when we go back to Beacon Hills.”

Derek raised one eyebrow, “We’re not going back to Beacon Hills.”

“Why not?” Stiles said stuffing his mouth with curly fries. “You haven’t been there in years so next time I’m going back home you could come with me. Don’t even try to argue me on that.”

Derek considered it but he didn’t agree. Beacon Hills was pretty much three hours away yet neither he nor his sister had ever thought about getting back. He took a bite from his cheesecake and politely declined the offer, “I’m not sure I want to go back.”

Stiles frowned in confusion at the statement but sensing that Derek had his reasons he decided not to talk about Beacon Hills anymore. Unable to bear more than five seconds of silence, Stiles asked another question that seemed relatively safe. “Where did you learn to bake? Professional courses? Hobby?”

“My mom taught me how to cook and how to make pies. She tried teaching Laura first but she couldn’t cook to save her life so mom taught me and here I am, baking pies for a living.”

Stiles gave Derek a small smile, “Your mom must be proud of you.”

“She was.”

Silence fell over the two young men as Stiles realized that probably that was the reason Derek never went back to Beacon Hills. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, feeling guilty at bringing back painful memories.

“It’s okay, it happened a long time ago,” Derek gave Stiles a sad smile and took a sip of his lukewarm coffee. “What about you? Did you learn how to cook to survive college?”

Stiles breathed out a laugh, “Nope. I used to cook for my dad back home. If it was for him he would have lived off hamburgers and hot pockets, luckily for him I had enough free time on my hands to learn how to cook a proper meal. I don’t even want to think what greasy monstrosity he eats now that I’m away.”

“Your mom didn’t teach you?”

“Sometimes we made cookies and pancakes when I was a kid but I was too young to cook on my own. She died when I was eight."

For a brief moment Derek wondered how a light and presumably safe conversation about cooking turned into a flood of painful memories for both of them.

“I’m sorry,” Derek offered.

Stiles looked down at his fries and whispered, “It happened a long time ago.”

Neither of them had enough courage to ask the other what happened to their parents so they remained in complete silence for long minutes. This time it was Derek who spoke first.

“You’re the same age as Isaac so I’m guessing Senior?”

Stiles nodded, “Yup. Did I look younger?”

“I thought you were in eleventh grade,” Derek teased and Stiles threw him one of his precious curly fries. They both laughed after that, the tension and awkwardness of before quickly forgotten.

“What about you, mystery man? How old are you? Forty?”

Derek smirked, “Six years older than you.”

“27. Interesting,” Stiles admitted.

“Disappointed?”

Stiles shrugged, “Age doesn’t make any difference.”

Derek wondered what that meant. He didn’t dare asking. A group of noisy kids flooded into the diner disturbing their conversation.

“Why don’t we take a walk?” Stiles suggested already standing up from the booth. Derek walked to the register to pay but Stiles beat him to it. “You made my lunch for a week, this is the least I can do,” he explained and handed a twenty to the girl who had served them.

The walked side by side in companionable silence around the neighborhood, headed for the small park that was just in front of Derek’s apartment “This is a nice neighborhood,” Stiles stated as they sat on a bench facing Derek’s building. Derek wasn’t very comfortable sitting with Stiles where his two sister could see him but that was the only bench available in the whole park so it would have to do.

“You live around here?” Stiles asked craning his neck to the side and scrutinizing every building in the area.

“I live in there,” Derek said pointing to the big building on the other side of the road.

“Oh, that looks nice. You have great taste.”

“Laura picked it. She used to live in a small apartment on the other side of town but when Cora and I moved here she had to pick something bigger for the three of us,” Derek explained.

“So you live with both your sisters?”

“I did for a while. Laura and Cora are still living together but I moved out. I didn’t go far, though, I live next door.”

“That’s so cool.”

Derek huffed a small laugh, “You’re an only child, aren’t you?”

“Yep. But Scott is like a brother to me. We’ve been living together since we moved here, Scott, Lydia and I. Scott wanted to move in with his girlfriend but she still lives with her father so I don’t see that happening anytime soon. He tried to convince us to let Allison live with us but Lydia and I don’t want to.”

“You don’t like her?”

“No! We do love her, she’s Lydia’s best friend but, well, even if Scott and Allison are perfect together they can be a little… overwhelming sometimes. Lydia and I can’t handle cute couples. And the only way to get Scott out of the house for a while is only when he has a date with Allison, so as long as Allison doesn’t live with us Lydia and I have some Scott-free time,” Stiles explained.

“So you and Lydia are both single?”

“Yup. Between work and college I don’t have much time for clubbing and dating.”

“Understandable,” Derek said.

Stiles smirked, “Dad approves and doesn’t approve at the same time. He’s proud that I have high grades and that I’m taking college seriously but he would like to see me happy.”

“I think it’s a misconception that people need someone else to be happy,” Derek observed.

“I know, right?” Stiles exclaimed, excited to see someone who shared his same ideas.

Derek’s phone buzzing in his pocket interrupted him.

“I promised Laura I would make lunch for her today,” Derek apologized as he stood from the bench.

“It’s okay. See you next week then?”

“Sure. Goodbye,” Derek said as he walked away. He went as far as ten steps before he heard Stiles calling for him.

“Hey!” Stiles yelled as he jogged back to Derek.

“What?”

“I don’t even know your name. I can’t list you under ‘Hot Bakery Guy’ on my phone forever,” Stiles said with a wink.

Derek’s lips quirked upwards, “It’s Derek.”

“Nice to meet you Derek, I’m Stiles,” Stiles said holding his hand out for Derek to shake. Derek scoffed at the guy's antics but grasped the slender hand and shaked it nonetheless.

Stiles fished his phone out from his back pocket and Derek saw him tapping the screen, “Great. I changed your name. I was so tired of reading Hot Bakery Guy.” He shook his phone in front of Derek with a smirk.

Derek’s phone number was listed under “ Derek The Hot Bakery Guy”

*

As soon as he walked into his apartment Derek was greeted by Laura with a  “Where have you been?” He immediately regretted giving his sister a key.

“Out.”

“No kidding,” Laura rolled her eyes. “Who were you with?”

“No one,” Derek said trying to walk past her to get into his room. Laura was blocking his way, determined not to let him go.

“That’s not what Cora said. She saw you with someone special.”

“If you already know who I was with why are you bothering me?” Derek did nothing to hide his annoyance.

Laura took a step closer to her brother, “Because I want you to tell me. I’m your sister, don’t leave me, us, out.”

Derek felt a little guilty at that, his sister surely knew which ones were his sore spots. “It’s nothing, Laura, really. I was with Stiles but we’re just friends.”

“And you want to be more than his friend.”

Derek shrugged, “We barely know each other.”

“Is he single?”

Derek nodded.

“What’s the problem then? Ask him out.”

Derek shook his head, “I can’t. He doesn’t feel the same way, I don’t even know if he’s into men or not.”

“Derek, he’s not Kate. What happened with her can’t stop you from being happy. Promise me that you will try to make this thing between you two work,” Laura sighed.

“There’s nothing between us,” Derek pointed out.

“Then you should change that,” her tone was so final Derek didn’t argue.

Kate Argent was the sister of Chris Argent, the owner of Argent’s Café, a big cafeteria located in front of Derek’s House of Pies. The Argents made the best coffee in Berkeley, they had a wide assortment of the finest brews and of creams and syrups. They baked some pastries and treats to go with their perfect coffee but their donuts and muffins couldn’t compete with Derek’s pies. Usually students get pastries at Derek’s and coffee at the Argent’s.

Because she wanted the recipe of Derek’s cherry pie, Kate had seduced Derek trying to steal his mother’s cookbook. Fortunately Derek had found out Kate’s plan in time and broke up with her. No one had seen Kate ever since. Things were okay between the Hales and the Argents after Chris had sworn he didn’t know about Kate’s plan and that he had no interest in stealing their recipes but Derek was still deeply wounded by that experience.

He hoped his sister was right, that Stiles was nothing like her. So maybe, just maybe, Derek would give him a chance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we'll be meeting Stiles' friends and yes, there will be more cooking and more fluff.


	4. Red Velvet 101

Derek was in the bakery’s kitchen desperately trying, and failing, to make Cora’s birthday cake. For the past ten years Laura had always brought the red velvet from another bakery downtown but this year Laura had forgotten to order the cake in time and Derek was forced to bake the damn red velvet himself. His phone buzzed in his back pocket and it almost slipped when he took it with his hands covered in flour. Cursing, he wiped his hands on a rug and slid a finger on the screen to read the text. It was Stiles.

Derek and Stiles had known each other for more or less a month now, Stiles came to the bakery almost every day when Derek was alone and the two would talk for hours about everything and nothing. Derek wanted more from his relationship with Stiles, but their friendship was too precious to be ruined by Derek's feelings. After what happened with Kate, Derek was always careful about falling in love. Somehow, though, he fell in love with Stiles at first sight. 

He was surprised to see that Stiles had texted him. With a smirk on his lips he read it.

_From Stiles [3:20 pm]: whatcha doin’?_

_To Stiles [3:24 pm]: Trying to bake a cake for Cora’s birthday_

Stiles replied immediately.

_From Stiles [3:25 pm]: which cake r u baking?_

_To Stiles [3:28 pm]: Red velvet_

_From Stiles [3:30 pm]: yum. i want some. is it turning out good?_

Derek considered lying but at the end decided against it and told Stiles the truth, maybe Stiles could give him some useful advice.

_To Stiles [3:32 pm]: It’s a total disaster._

_From Stiles [3:35 pm]: sorry :( need a hand?_

Derek held his breath, was Stiles offering to bake the pie with him? Because if he was, Derek definitely wanted to. Baking with Stiles was one of the few thing Derek wanted, except well, doing many other things with Stiles but for now baking would have to do. So he didn’t know why instead of a simple ‘yes’ he replied,

_To Stiles [3:41 pm]: Don’t wanna bother you._

Luckily, Stiles was more stubborn than Derek.

_From Stiles [3:43 pm]: no bother at all. take what u need and come 2 my place. i’ll help you bake it. i’m sending u my address right now_

_From Stiles [3:44 pm]: oh if you happen to stop by the groceries’ can u buy orange juice and a box of cheerios? thanks man :)_

Derek smiled as he pocketed his phone. Stiles was really unique, Derek was lucky to have him as a friend.

*

Stiles’ apartment wasn’t far from Derek’s bakery and even if he stopped five minutes at the groceries’ to buy cereals and juice for Stiles, he arrived at his friend’s house around four. To his surprise, it was a boy with dark hair who opened the door.

“You must be Derek,” the guy greeted him with a crooked smile. “Stiles talks a lot about you.”

“And you must be Scott.”

“I am,” the guy said, his smile never faltering. “Come inside, Stiles’ waiting for you.”

Derek followed Scott inside the apartment. The living room was pretty big and perfectly clean, there was a girl with brown hair Derek had never seen before sitting on the couch. She looked familiar but Derek couldn’t understand why. She stood and approached Derek, holding her hand out for Derek to shake.

“I’m Allison, nice to meet you,” the girl said. All Stiles’ friends seemed nice people, Derek was happy about that, someone like Stiles deserved people like them, not like him.

“Derek,” he said shaking the offered hand.

“Hale, yes I know,” Allison said. “Stiles talks about you all the time.”

“Derek, hey!” Stiles greeted as he walked into the living room. “Don’t believe anything they told you. Kitchen’s this way,” he put his hands on Derek’s shoulder and steered him towards the kitchen.

They both ignored Allison and Scott’s chuckles.

“Red velvet,” Stiles said flipping through web pages on his iPad. “I usually make red velvet cupcakes but the recipe is pretty much the same. Do you have a particular recipe you want to follow or should I look for one?”

“If I had a recipe to follow, I would have baked it myself,” Derek snorted.

“Riiight, but the internet’s full of recipes, why didn’t you pick one?”

“I read ten different recipes and all of them were different,” Derek explain frustrated. “How the hell should I know which one is the right one?”

Stiles chuckled and put the iPad down on the counter, “There isn’t a right one, Derek. It depends on personal tastes, you know. I consider recipes more of an inspiration than an actual guide, I change dosages or add ingredients basically every time. You don’t?” Stiles looked genuinely surprised.

Derek shook his head, “I follow my mom’s recipes and pies turn out good.”

“That’s because you mother refined her recipes by baking the same pie over and over again changing it every time.”

“I didn’t think of that.”

With a knowing smirk Stiles pushed the iPad aside and took the groceries’ shopping bag from Derek’s hands. “Did you get my juice?”

“Yep and the cheerios.”

“Thanks. I’ve got my wallet in my bedroom, I’ll give you the money when we’re done with the cake, okay?” Stiles put away the orange and the cheerios.

“Don’t worry,” Derek waved a hand dismissively.

Stiles eyes widened in surprise, “You don’t have to.”

“It’s my way to say thank you for helping me with the cake.”

“Well, before thanking me and all we should see if we can make a decent cake,” Stiles said as he took the ingredients from Derek’s paper bag.

Derek paled, “You know how to make it, right?”

“Let’s find out.”

*

Lydia came home from classes around six. She found Allison and Scott curled up on the couch together watching a movie and she heard Stiles laughing in the kitchen. “Who’s with Stiles?” she asked to the couple.

“Derek Hale,” Allison answered wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Lydia glanced in the direction of the kitchen open doors and sure enough, that guy leaning against the counter was Derek.

“What is he doing here?” Lydia whisperedmoving closer to Allison.

“Stiles offered to help him with a cake,” Scott explained.

“They’re almost done, though. You should have seen them cleaning up while the cake was in the oven, it was adorable,” Allison sighed.

Lydia scowled and held out her hand, “Show me. Footage? Pictures?”

Allison and Scott looked at each other guilty. “Uhm, we didn’t think about taking pictures,” Scott confessed.

“Yeah, they were so cute it got out of our mind.”

Lydia opened her mouth to shout at them but promptly bit her lips, she didn’t want Stiels to hear her.

“I hate both of you. Is he going to tell him?”

Allison shook her head, “I don’t think so. It’s a pity, though. We’ve been watching them for more or less two hours and trust me, they’re so into each other.”

“He laughed. Derek Hale _laughed_ ,” Scott stated and Allison nodded to emphasize his point.

Lydia raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Do you even listen when Isaac talks about him?” Allison lowered her voice, “The guy never smiles, okay? Yet, he smiles at Stiles and laughs.”

“Ohh,” Lydia said in realization.

“Yes, _ohh_. The problem is Stiles is too oblivious to do anything. And I’m guessing even Derek is,” Lydia hadn’t seen Scott this frustrated in a long time.

“Guess we’ll have to do something about it,” she said and stood from the couch. “But first, I need to see for myself.”

*

“I can’t believe you can’t cover the cake with the frosting,” Derek said talking the spatula from Stiles’ hands.

“Hey! Not everyone is a pro,” Stiles said in a fake offended tone.

“It doesn’t take a pro to smear the frosting around, Stiles.”

“I beg to differ,” Stiles mumbled taking a step back from the cake.

Derek looked at him for a moment then, “Come on, I’ll teach you.”

“What?”

Derek held up the spatula for Stiles to take it, “I’ll teach you, come here.”

Stiles took a tentative step towards Derek and took the spatula with his fingers. “You’re holding it wrong,” Derek said as he stepped behind Stiles, took Stiles' hands in his and readjusted Stiles’ grip on the object, his hand firmly curled around Stiles’. “If you hold it this way,” he said holding up Stiles’ hand for him to see, “you can control it better.”

Stiles let Derek’s hand guide his own.

“When you’re frosting the sides, it works better if you hold the spatula still and move the tray,” Derek said stepping behind Stiles to show him. He was pressed against the boy’s back, his left hand on the tray holding the cake and his right one clutching Stiles’ hand over the spatula, both of them too engrossed into the cake to notice the lack of personal space.

This was how Lydia found them when she walked into the kitchen. “It was about time someone taught him how to properly frost a cake,” she said studying carefully the position the two were in.

When he heard Lydia’s voice he jumped back, colliding with Derek’s chest. “Lydia! I didn’t hear you coming in. He’s Derek. Derek Hale, you know who he is. He’s teaching me how to frost a cake, well actually he needed help with-” Stiles rambled trying to distract Lydia from the position she had found them in. Stiles wriggled a bit trying to get away from Derek but Derek remained still.

“Stiles, stop,” Lydia interrupted him holding up a finger. “I didn’t get a word of what you were saying.”

Stiles blushed a little but Derek chuckled, letting go of Stiles and taking one step forward towards Lydia, “I'm Derek. Stiles was helping me baking a cake for my sister’s birthday.”

Lydia did a once-over and hummed approvingly, “I’m Lydia, Stiles’ best friend. You make a fabulous cherry pie, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Derek replied trying not to squirm under the girl’s scrutiny.

“Well,” Lydia said clapping her hands together. “It’s almost time for dinner, you’re staying,” it wasn’t a question.

“I’d love to, but I need to take the cake home and Laura will probably kill me if I’m not home for dinner with the cake.”

Stiles sulked a little but Lydia waved a hand in the air dismissively, “We can have dinner another time, don’t worry.”

Before Derek and Stiles could say anything, Lydia was talking again, “I’ll leave you two alone so you can continue with the cake,” she said fixing her gaze on Stiles but he pretended not to understand what Lydia wanted him to do.

“Well, the cake is ready,” Derek said looking at the red velvet they baked together. It was perfect, Cora will love it.

“Yep, you can make more frosting tomorrow and add some decorations maybe,” Stiles suggested.

Derek hummed in agreement and wrapped the cake into one of those paper boxes that he had stolen from the bakery, “I should get going and put this in the fridge. Thanks for your help.”

Stiles shrugged as he lead Derek to the door. As soon as they entered the room Lydia shooed Allison and Scott into one of the bedrooms leaving the two of them alone.

“I’ll let you know if Cora likes it.”

“I'm sure she will,” Stiles winked.

Derek had to refrain himself from kissing Stiles so he waved goodbye and walked out of the door. Derek sat in his car for five minutes thinking of Stiles, of how it had felt to be pressed against him, of how right it had felt to just be with Stiles, cooking in his kitchen and laughing together at the mess they did. He imagined how it would be being together with Stiles before finally driving away.

When he arrived home, Laura was waiting for him in the parking lot.

“Laura?” he said confused as he locked his car and approached her.

“Where have you been?” she sounded angry but Derek couldn’t tell why.

“Why?”

“I tried to call you five times today. You weren’t at the bakery, you weren’t here and you had promised me you would text me when Cora’s cake was ready. You know what time is it?”

Derek looked down at this phone, there were five missed calls from Laura. “It’s seven thirty,” he said. “What’s the big deal? It’s not four in the morning and I’m not a teenager anymore.”

“It’s seven thirty and you didn’t tell me the cake was ready!” Laura yelled frustrated. “What if it wasn’t? I was here worrying for our little sister’s birthday cake and you where… I don’t even know where you have been!”

“I was at Stiles’,” Derek said calmly. Then hold up the paper box, “He helped me bake the damn red velvet.”

Laura gaped, speechless.

“Now,” Derek took his sister’s hand and lead her inside. “You made quite a scene, I have the cake, I’m home, everything is fine we can go inside.”

The first thing Derek did when he finally stepped into his apartment was to put the cake in the fridge.

“Oh my god Derek, I’m so sorry for yelling at you,” Laura said hugging him from behind in a crushing hug. She perched her chin on her brother’s shoulder and tried to look inside the box.

Derek swatted her hands away, “I’m putting it in the fridge as it is. We can make some decorations tomorrow if you want, I promise you it’s perfect.”

Laura hugged him tighter, “You’re my favorite brother.”

“I’m your only brother,” he rolled his eyes skyward and pushed the door of the fridge close.

Laura laughed and loosened her grip, allowing him to step out of her embrace. He was about to take a quick shower before dinner when he decided to text Stiles and tell him that the cake had Laura’s approval.

*

As soon as Stiles locked the door behind Derek he was assaulted by Lydia who grabbed him by his arm and hauled him to the couch, “Tell me everything, what was he doing here?”

“He needed help with a red velvet for his sister,” Stiles explained trying to move away from Lydia.

“Why did he ask you?” Lydia insisted.

“He didn’t ask me, I offered. I was bored, so I texted him and asked him what he was doing, he said he was failing to bake a cake so I offered to help him,” Stiles explained.

Lydia raised an eyebrow, unamused, “Derek the baker couldn’t bake a cake. Doesn’t make much sense to me.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “He never baked a red velvet before, it can be tricky if you don’t have a good recipe. Lydia, he needed help and I helped him, it’s not a big deal.”

“It became a big deal when I found him wrapped around you,” Lydia said accusingly. Scott let out a gasp of surprise but Allison leaned forward, interested in more details.

“Wrapped around each other, Lydia?! Details,” Allison sounded disgustingly eager to Stiles but he said nothing.

Lydia waved her off, “I’m not telling you. This is payback for not documenting their interaction while I wasn’t home. Footage, guys. Footage!”

“We already talked about this!” Scott said with the best set of puppy eyes Stiles had ever seen on his friend.

“I know we had an agreement and we’re sorry we forgot about it but, Lydia,” Allison pleaded leaning closer to her best friend. “You have to understand. They distracted us,” she gestured to the kitchen.

“Wait wait wait,” Stiles said squirming uncomfortably on the couch. Thanks to Scott’s grip on his shoulder and arm he couldn’t move, “What agreement? What footage?”

The three friends stopped arguing but no one gave Stiles an answer. It was Lydia who snapped first, “Jesus Christ, Stiles are you blind? Derek’s in love with you!”

After a first moment of genuine confusion, Stiles snorted and made a move to leave but Scott stopped him, “She’s right, dude. He’s totally into you.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “You’re wrong. We’re just friends, okay? He doesn’t even look at me that way, we like spending time with each other platonically, there’s nothing wrong or weird in that.”

“But you want more,” Allison stated.

With a sigh Stiles admitted, “Well, yes. Of course I want more. I mean, have you seen him? I would be crazy not to want him, he looks like one of those GQ model guys. But he doesn’t look at me like that and I’m okay with being just friend.”

“Except that you’re not okay with you two being just friends and that he isn’t either,” Allison said as she stood and sat closer to Stiles, taking his hand in hers. “Believe me. He likes you, you like him and you’re both too scared to make a move because you don’t know how the other feels.”

“You should ask him out,” Lydia suggested.

“Actually,” Scott started. Stiles shook his head trying to stop him from saying what Stiles hadn’t told anyone else yet. “Stiles had already asked him out.”

Stiles covered his face with his hands and groaned as the girls frowned at him, clearly not happy that Stiles hadn’t told them before.

“A date?”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Allison said in disbelief, then turned towards Scott, “You didn’t tell us either!”

Stiles shook his head, “It was not a date, okay? We’re friends, we like talking to each other and he’s from Beacon Hills. We talked about that. Nothing happened,” Stiles jerked away from under his best friend’s grip and took a few steps in the direction of his bedroom. “Even if it did, I wouldn’t tell you anyway. It’s none of your business,” Stiles winked at them and before Lydia could tackle him he hid in the safety of his bedroom locking his door.

He could still hear them talking in the living room and Stiles knew they were plotting something. He sat on the bed and while waiting for them to forget about Derek and him he took his phone from his desk. He had a new message from Derek, he smiled fondly as he read it.

_From Derek [7:48 pm]: Laura saw the cake, says it’s perfect. Only thanks to you ;)_

Stiles blushed at the cheesy message and thought of what Allison and Lydia had told him before. No, they were wrong. Derek wasn’t flirting with him, he was just being nice to a friend. Stiles knew better than to let his hopes up. He typed a reply and send it before his judgment could stop it.

_To Derek [8:29 pm]: it was fun :) we should do it more often_

Stiles worried his lower lip between his teeth as he anxiously waited for a reply.

_From Derek [8:36 pm]: Definitely._

"Definitely," Stiles grinned at his phone and threw himself back on the bed, closing his eyes and remembering how Derek’s body felt against his.

*

“The situation here is more serious that expected,” Lydia stated as she sat heavily on the couch. “He’s clearly more clueless that we thought.”

Allison nodded, “After what I saw today, I have no doubts that Derek is head over heels for him.”

“After what I didn’t see, you mean?” Lydia retorted.

“Yeah but you saw them wrapped up around each other in the kitchen,” Allison said rolling her eyes in frustration. “Let’s just say that we both saw enough, okay?”

Lydia sighed but nodded, “Okay. How long has Stiles known him?”

Scott, who had been sitting on the floor in front of the tv, looked up, “Uhm more or less one month.”

“I see,” Lydia said turning back to Allison. “Well, that thing has been going on for long enough. We need to do something about this.”

Allison shook her head, “I don’t know, Lydia. I think we should give them more time.”

Lydia blinked, “More time for what? Stalling? Doing absolutely nothing?” Lydia shook her head and lowered her voice so that Stiles couldn’t hear. “If we don’t do something about this they might never act on their feelings! You know Stiles, he will probably wait for Derek to make the first move.”

“And since Derek is probably waiting for Stiles to make the first move, at one point one of the two would just move on and find someone else,” Allison continued, nodding in understanding.

“And he will break Stiles’ heart,” Scott contributed from the floor.

“And we don’t want that. We need a plan,” Lydia stated and stood up from the couch. Allison did too but before Scott could stand as well, she put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. “You can stay here while we decide what to do.”

“I can help,” Scott protested.

“You can’t keep secrets from Stiles, Scott. And while that’s very noble of you, we need this to remain a secret,” Allison whispered, kissing Scott on the cheek. “Take Stiles and go buy dinner, we have to call a certain girl who can help us.”

Scott waited for the two girls to go into Lydia’s bedroom before he knocked on Stiles’ bedroom door and with a little fuss dragged him out of the apartment.

“They’re gone,” Allison said after she saw Stiles’ car drive away from the building.

“Good, I’m calling Erica,” Lydia said and put her laptop on the coffee table. The two friends sat on the couch and waited for their friends to answer their skype call.

When Erica appeared on the screen she was cooking dinner. “This better be important because I’m pretty busy here,” Erica sounded annoyed but the matter was to important to delay this conversation any further.

“What are you cooking?” Allison asked trying to see what was on the stove.

“I’m making a special pasta tonight. It’s one of Stiles’ recipes, don’t tell him I tried it,” Erica said as she chopped come vegetables. “What’s up?”

Lydia turned the laptop towards her so Allison would stop looking at whatever Erica was doing, but Allison just snuggled closer to her. “We have a problem with Stiles,” Lydia announced.

Erica raised an eyebrow but didn’t look up from her task, “Define problem.”

“He likes a guy, the guy likes him back but neither of them will make the first move unless we do something,” Lydia explained.

“Hm, are you a hundred percent sure the guy likes him back?” Erica asked as she dropped the chopped vegetables on a pan. “I mean, are you sure that the plan doesn’t backfire? I don't want Stiles to get hurt.”

Allison turned the laptop towards her, “Neither do we, but turst me, we know he likes him back. We saw enough. But we need a plan, something easy and fast.”

“And we also need to know if the guy’s single,” Lydia added.

“We know he is!” Allison said confused.

“We know he told Stiles he is, he could be lying.”

Erica put the spaghetti in the boiling water, “Well, you should ask that to someone close to him.”

Lydia didn’t miss the opening her friend was giving her, “That’s why we’re talking to you right now. Is Derek Hale single?”

Erica almost dropped the pot with the boiling water when Lydia said Derek’s name. She forgot about her dinner for a moment and sat in front of her laptop, eyes wide in surprise. “Derek? Seriously?”

Allison nodded, “Did he tell you something about Stiles?”

“No, he didn’t. He doesn’t talk much about his personal life with us,” she frowned then added. “Actually, his sister told me that Derek was interested into a guy but she never told me who the guy was. Now it all makes sense! Stiles is the mysterious customer! I wonder why Isaac never told me.”

“Are you sure he’s single?” Lydia added, urgently. Scott and Stiles would be home soon.

“Completely sure. Cora always says that she wishes her brother would find somebody who will make him happy. I say that we must work on that plan now.”

Lydia nodded and turned the laptop towards her again, “I was thinking dinner. I could convince Stiles to invite Derek over for dinner one night so that Scott and I can meet him. Of course Scott and I don’t show up and the two of them spend the night together.”

“Do you really think that’s going to work?” Allison asked, concerned. “They already had lunch together and nothing came out of that."

“They had lunch in a diner, Allison. We’re leaving them the house for the night. A night in is more intimate and having Stiles cooking for him will do the trick, trust me.”

On the screen Erica nodded, “I think it’s a great idea. Making Derek fall in love with Stiles’ through his cooking skills, it’s a simple and classical plan but it will work. Also, if Stiles doesn’t know that you two won’t show up, it would be easier for him not to worry too much and screw up.”

Allison agreed with Erica, “She’s right. It’s a great plan, Lydia. We only need to set everything up.”

“Well, I can’t help much with that from here,” Erica leaned closer to the laptop and blew a kiss to the girls. “Time for me to go, Boyd will be back soon. Good luck with the plan, girls.”

They both said their goodbyes to their friend and then shut off the laptop.

“Well, we have a plan. What’s next?” Allison asked eagerly.

“The next part is the hardest,” Lydia said a little dramatically. “We have to convince Stiles to cook for Derek.” 


End file.
